Dentist Issue, Dont Know What To Do To Do Right?

dj9928

Have hit a major issue, I have had a toothache for the past month and been living on painkillers, So yesterday decided to look about a dentist, I phoned the local council who put me through to a department who told me there was no NHS dentists with a 40 mile radius but to try the local hospital as they have a dentist. I phoned them only to be told there was no free appointments until Feb next year which is no good:rolleyes: So I had to phone around private dentists, They where looking from £90 and thats just to look at my mouth and take an xray, thats no work done and I will need at least 3 fillings. The best I could get was to sign up for a £12.99 a month direct debit scheme which give me 2 free appointments and 20% of my total treatment, so we are talking aprox £150 for 3 fillings then there is the £13 a month after that. The problem arises when I am on a DMP with Payplan and they did not allow for dental care, I will have to miss this months £70 payment and sign up to more debt which they are not happy about.

What can I do? There is a dental college but its 40 miles away and there is no guarantee they can take me, add to that i'd have to get out of work and loss pay etc. I don't know what to do to be doing right.

McKneff

i'm sure you should be entitled to emergency dental treatment. look at the NHS website for a telephone number.

whatatwit

DJ, have a look on the health and beauty sub board of the Families and Relationships board.
There are a couple of dentists who post regularly on there.

Usually you should speak to your local PCT (primary care trust), who tend to hold a waiting list for NHS dentists and there should be some sort of emergency service.
If you can't find the PCT number, try asking a local dentist, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Sharon87

There are emergency dentists out there. When my wisdom tooth was growing and cutting into my cheek I was seen to within 2 days. It was free as I was 15, but I'm not sure how much it will cost. Check the NHS website and search emergency dentist, not just dentist.

Ames

oh god, you've got me worried. I've had toothache for a few months now, on and off (I think a filling fell out). BF says enough's enough and when he gets back on thursday he was going to phone round and find a dentist for us. I hope there's one available as we're on benefits and there's no way we can afford private.

Toothsmith

When you say your local 'council' do you actually mean the council? They're not really the people to ring. Who did they put you in touch with?

The people to contact are your local PCT (Primary Care Trust). They are the people who used to be your area health authority.

They will have to have some sort of local dental strategy.

They may not have immediate access to regular dental care, but they often have special contracts with local dentists to provide emergency care. They should have some sort of answer for you.

Once the emergency is sorted out, then find someone to look after you on a regular basis to avoid future emergencies. Whether a dentist is taking on NHS patients or not changes on an almost daily basis. It just depends on what the appointment book looks like, and how many 'target points' the practice has left.

If you get a 'no' on one day - either from the PCT or a practice, then it's still worth ringing up again a few days later. (Unless it's a purely private practice who don't do NHS at all.)